Chapter XX: Taken at Last

Paul awoke shortly after Thede's departure for the _Esmeralda_, and Clay, Case and himself spent some moments wondering about the success of the night expedition in the rain.

Case and Clay only laughed at the idea of the counterfeiters being taken, declaring that the clicking sounds which the men had heard probably came from a long distance, and that, anyhow, there wouldn't be any counterfeiters present when they came, after a long tramp in the rain, to the locality where they had been.

"They are slippery people, these counterfeiters," Case argued, getting ready for supper, "and are not to be caught napping. When you get where you can put your finger on them, they are not there!"

"But suppose, for a minute, that they did catch them," urged Paul, "what are they going to do with them? They might be kept on the _Esmeralda_. She is not loaded down with people like the _Rambler_."

"Catch your men before you find places for them!" Case laughed. "If the boys do catch them, we'll find a place to store them!"

"Say," said Clay, sniffing at the rather meager supper cooking on the electric stove, "is that the best you can do in the way of supper? I could eat all that myself, and then want more! Suppose we go over to the _Esmeralda_ for supper?"

"It is only a short time since you had your supper," Case laughed. "I was just preparing a little snack because there was nothing else to do. If you want a hearty meal, you sure will have to go to the _Esmeralda_ for it."

"You know what Alex said about leaving the fish by the roadside," Clay laughed. "How would you like some of those fish right now? They would go pretty good, eh?"

"I wonder if I could find them?" Case said.

"In this storm? I should say not! Forget it!"

But Case seemed fascinated with the idea of getting those fish, and referred to the fact that they were lying there in the rain, doing no one any good, several times during the next few minutes. At last Clay said with a laugh:

"Oh, go on and get the fish, if you are so stuck on doing it! There won't be any peace on the boat until you have tried! I haven't any idea that you will succeed, but you can try!"

Case arose from the locker, where he had been sitting, and, going to the window, looked out on the driving rain. The night was sultry, and the rain splashing on the deck of the motor boat seemed rather attractive.

The boy threw off the light coat he had worn and stood in undershirt and light trousers. After looking critically at his feet for a second, he proceeded to put on a pair of coarse shoes, well calculated for walking in rocky places.

"So you are going, after all!" Clay laughed. "Well, good luck go with you! If a crazy notion ever got into a boy's head, one has entered yours now! The idea of going out in this storm! Why, it is raining some, I tell you!"

"Who cares for the rain?" was the reply. "I shall enjoy the trip immensely! If we had Alex or Jule here to explain their line of march, we'd have fish to eat!"

"But they are not here," commented Clay, "and one might as well look for a needle in a load of hay as to try to follow their footsteps. Better give the thing up!"

"No," was the reply, "I'll get a good bath, anyhow, and I may find the fish, though it's dollars to apples that I don't!"

The boy took up his searchlight and crossed over to the _Esmeralda_, which lay between the _Rambler_ and the Mexican shore. Thede had a hearty laugh at the idea of the lad venturing out in the rain.

"You've got the fish notion as badly as Rube and Buck have the counterfeiters' hunch," he said. "When they get where they are, they won't be there."

"All right!" was the reply. "If I can't get the fish, I'll get a good bath! Say, Clay is over there on the _Rambler_, starving to death! Can't you get him over here and fill him up?"

"Sure!" was the ready response. "I can stuff him like we do raccoons!"

"I guess that will hold him for a while!" laughed Case.

With that he left the boat, and the last seen of him was the round hole made in the night by his searchlight.

Clay and Paul were left alone on the _Rambler_. Clay told Paul what he had heard of the plans of the four adventurers, closing with the statement that they would succeed only in getting soaked to the skin.

They had a frisky time with Captain Joe, the cub, and the parrot, putting the latter through all his tricks, and the cub also coming in for a share of the frolic. The dog soon grew weary of the game, and took refuge out in the rain.

"What's the matter with Captain Joe?" asked Paul. "He doesn't appear to be in his usual spirits! Perhaps he's sulking because he was not invited to the counterfeiter hunt!"

The parrot was in a talkative mood, and reeled off such sayings as he had heard the boys repeat by the yard. At last he cocked his head on one side and shouted:

"Come out of that! Come out of that! What are you hiding for? What are you hiding for?"

"That's odd!" Clay exclaimed, looking about the cabin of the _Rambler_ curiously. "I never knew the bird to act in that way before. He usually contents himself with shorter questions."

"I believe there's something going on," Paul declared, almost in a whisper. "Listen!"

Both boys listened for a moment, and then Clay stepped to the door, or window, leading to the aft deck and threw it open, remarking, as he did so, that it was a wonder it had not been open all the evening.

Then came the surprise of his life.

As Clay threw the window open a grinning face confronted him--a low, mean face, with small, black eyes, a bulldog chin, and a forehead which seemed like that of a snake, it sloped so, and was so narrow. The fellow, who was slender of form, extended a threatening revolver in his right hand and climbed through the window.

Clay was not armed, and he knew that Paul was in the same fix. Weapons lay all about him in the cabin, but none was within reach.

"What do you want?" demanded the lad, watching for an opportunity to get out of range of the weapon.

"You!" was the laconic answer.

"But," Clay began, but the leveled revolver stopped him, for he saw murder in the little eyes.

The first work of the intruder was to collect all the weapons in sight and put them out of reach of the boy, who stood in the meantime with his hands raised above his head.

Then Paul received his attention. The fellow made a critical examination of the broken leg, smiling as he did so.

"You have taken excellent care of him," was his only comment.

"What is it that you want?" Clay asked again, still watching for his chance.

"Your boat," answered the fellow.

He paused a moment, as if considering, and then nodded his head in the direction of the place where Paul was lying, with his hands also well up in the air.

"And the kid," he added.

"If it is money you want, name the sum," Clay said. "He has been hurt, and can't be moved."

The fellow chuckled and made no reply. He took some strong cord from a pocket and proceeded to tie Clay. Was there no chance of escape? If Case would only return!

The tying went on, and Clay was obliged to endure it. If some of the boys would come!

Where was Captain Joe? Somehow, that dog never was where he was wanted! If he would only come now!

Perhaps he had been silenced by a blow on the head. But no; the dog was out on the front deck, and the intruder had entered the cabin from the rear.

The man who seemed to have taken undisputed possession of the _Rambler_, first taking care to place the weapons beyond the reach of Paul, proceeded then to put the motors in motion. Clay watched him as he did so with anxious eyes, hoping to see him push the wrong lever, but the fellow did nothing of the kind.

All this time rain had been falling in great sheets, but now there came a lull in the storm.

The cords hurt Clay's wounded arm, and he uttered an involuntary groan of pain. As if attracted by the cry, Captain Joe appeared in the cabin doorway!

The dog was quick to take in the situation, and, before he could make a move to defend himself, had the fellow by the throat. He had not counted on Captain Joe!

The fellow gasped as the teeth of the dog tore at his throat, and he tried to cry out, but was unable to do so. Together they rolled here and there on the cabin floor.

The noise of the struggle attracted the attention of Thede, who lost no time in getting on board the boat. At a word from Clay the dog released his hold, and the man fell back in a faint.

"I wonder if he's dead?" Thede said, as he bent over the unconscious man. "It surely isn't the fault of the dog if he still has life in his body!"

Then he paused a moment and looked about. He saw the plight Clay was in and hastened to release him.

"It seems to me that you kept this little performance rather private!" he said as he cut the cords. "How did he get into the cabin?"

"Came in by the window, from the after deck," was the reply. "Strange you didn't see or hear him when he crossed from the _Esmeralda_!"

"The rain probably prevented the noise he made, if he made any at all, being heard, and the chances are that he didn't make any! The people who go forth on the mission he seems to have been on usually make as little stir as possible."

The surgeon now gave his attention to the man, who had been severely injured by the dog, who now stood close by to see that he did not escape. He was covered with blood, his throat being badly tom.

"It seems to me that I'm having a right smart practice on this boat!" he said, with a smile. "I'll have to go to the other boat for my instruments. That is a ragged wound!"

"Don't you recognize the fellow?" asked Clay. "Don't think I ever saw him before."

"You saw his back, and that was under water," Clay urged. "Now do you know what I mean?"

"Not little 'To the Death'? I never guessed that!"

"That's who it is."

Thede now left for the _Esmeralda_, and Clay busied himself stanching the blood, which was flowing from the wound in the man's neck in a steady stream.

Presently he heard voices and listened to catch the words. It was Alex and Jule, talking excitedly, and evidently making good use of their legs.

"I'm going to get the _Rambler_ and run down," Alex's voice said. "If Buck and Rube get the others, there'll sure be a load!"

The rain had ceased, and the stars were shining, lighting the rocks with a silvery radiance. There would be a moon later on.

"Now, what does the kid mean by that?" mused Clay, forgetting for the moment to care for the injured man.